Meet the Least Interesting Guy on the LBRY Team

Samuel Bryan • Oct 10 2016

LBRY’s main app developer calls himself “easily the least interesting person on the team.”

That actually speaks to just how interesting the LBRY team is. Or maybe to Alex Liebowitz’ sense of modesty. The fact is, Alex is a pretty interesting guy in his own right. He’s been on the team for a few months now, and it’s high time we introduced him.

Alex is an economist turned web developer. He studied econ at UMass Amherst but left with a few incompletes to enter the world of software, where (as he put it) nobody looks at the degree on your resume. Nevertheless, Alex is a self-professed economics nerd. As a result, he’s a perfect fit for the LBRY team.

Alex brings hands-on software development skills and experience to the table. His experience includes building web and desktop apps for large national corporations. Alex also helps run a large podcasting network.

But it’s through his identity as an artist that his passion for LBRY comes out.

Alex is a serious guitar player, currently studying under Phillip de Fremery, a noted classical guitar teacher who studied under Andres Segovia. Because LBRY combines the transparency and directness of peer-to-peer networks with the legitimacy and convenience of paid streaming services, Alex said he saw the revolutionary potential in LBRY early on. It offers a way for artists to take advantage of peer-to-peer technology and get paid for what they do without corporate middlemen getting a huge chunk of the take.

Alex puts it like this:

“As a musician, I've seen the destructive side of peer-to-peer and streaming technology up close. Much more than any of the other creative arts, the music industry has been torn apart by streaming.

“LBRY is based upon a profound insight: the problem with peer-to-peer networks is not that they're decentralized; it's not that we need a corporation sitting between creators and consumers deciding who's allowed to put their content online – and taking a hefty cut for the favor. It's that up to now, they've offered no way for creators to get paid, and no way to ensure legitimate content is the most visible and easily accessible on the network. LBRY incorporates an instant and painless payment system that allows artists to charge whatever they want and get 100% of the revenue.”

Alex may not think he’s exciting, but his technical skills coupled with his business knowledge and understanding of LBRY user needs will serve us well.